Members Present: Chairman Douglas R. North, Vice Chairman Marshall L. Harris, Clerk Stephen C. Lobik
Superintendent: Craig W. Jalbert
Secretary: Dale Barnes-Johnson
Open the Meeting: The meeting was called to order at 6:30 p.m.
Guest: Ron Pong from Tata & Howard (T&H)
Ron Pong from T&H attended the meeting to discuss the Bethany Road Change Orders. The largest of which is from the electrical contractor ($11,733.90). It involves the work associated with the installation of the radio antennas at Palmer Road, Bunyan and the Tank. The Contractor missed the work in question because it was not called out on the electrical drawings and therefore did not include it in his bid. This explains why his bid was some $30,000 less than the next lowest bidder. Ron assured the Commission the change order is reasonable for the work involved and feels this was an honest mistake. The contractor could have pulled out of the job and left us with the next bid which was more as previously stated. However, in the interest of the client they proceeded as necessary. Craig expressed his major concern is to get the expected end results when the project is complete and is leery of signing this change order only to be faced with another in the future for other work
they might have missed. Ron acknowledged his concern and assured signing of the change order will allow T&H to lean on the contractor to be sure the job is done to the job specifications. Ron and the Commission went over the summary of the remaining changes at the Bethany Road Pump Station, many previously discussed: Different surge relief valve $885.52; additional fence gate (to allow room to maneuver well cleaning truck) $864.00; well casing extension (DEP recommendation during Sanitary Survey) $300.00; additional well cleaning pumping & surging $1,320.00; additional paving (to allow more room at loading dock) $1,374.00; deletion of redundant chemical feed pump panel - credit of $2,520.00. T&H is still working on another issue regarding the instrumentation contractor and the panel he purchased for the Ely Rd. Tank vault. It is already wired but the unit will not fit through the existing hatchway. The Bethany Road project also has
another credit coming from the electrical side because the work performed by National Grid was much less than anticipated. Contractor included $20,000 for the work but it will be less than $3,000. Don Blackwell from the DEP will still have to approve the final change order. Craig spoke with Don Tata earlier in the day regarding the changes. Don also recommended we move forward with it with the knowledge that T&H will ensure the project is completed as per the specifications. The Commission agreed and Ron will proceed in preparing the change order for signature.
S.R.F. Project ~ Updates
Fern Hill Water Main Project ~ The pipeline has passed the bacteria test, as discussed at the last meeting T&H volunteered to step in and collect the samples which passed. Services to the houses have been completed; temporary paving completed, loaming and seeding remains to be done. John Morrell and Craig need to walk the job and make notes of damage. Freitas will come back to saw cut the trench and install permanent paving in October and at that time damages to the pavement and side walks will be addressed. There will also be a small change on this job concerning the paving. John wants more on State Ave than was included in the spec. Ron Pong has possession of the preconstruction video.
Ely Road Tank ~ The tank has passed the leakage and bacteria tests with no problems. The new tank is in service and working well. Site work will be resuming soon and is expected to take one and a half weeks.
Bethany Road Pump Station ~ The security fence and gate is in. Work is continuing on interior components. The dry chemical hopper and mixer will be delayed. The company mistakenly did not send out the engineering submittals which delayed the order for the unit. The company is also located in Florida where the bad weather hit, estimated time of arrival is November 15.
Accept the Minutes: A Motion was made by Marty and seconded by Steve to accept the meeting minutes from the July 31, 2008 and August 28, 2008 meetings. Motion passed unanimously.
OLD BUSINESS:
Service Terminations ~ Unfortunately, seven services were terminated at 1 p.m. today as a result of outstanding balances, 5 are believed to be vacant, one service was resumed at 3:30 after the resident paid the outstanding amount due. Our office received a call from Senior Center Director Judy White who was quite upset about the other occupied service. The series of events were explained to Judy who was then referred to the Board of Health, as was the resident back on August 22nd. Our office was later contacted by Western Mass Legal Service who was also informed of the series of events the proceeded the termination, they in turn chose to contact the Collectors Office as they wished to make a payment arrangement attempt. At the end of the day it was agreed the Collectors office would contact
us if an agreement was reached at which point services would be turned back on.
Hospital Road Bridge Work ~ This MassHighway project has been ongoing but now they are working on the water main which will be suspended from the south side of the new bridge. There is a MassHighway Engineer on site.
Water Management Act Registration Appeal ~ Based on correspondence from the State it is unclear how they plan to process our appeal. However, it seems we will be individually approached in an attempt at resolution. A meeting was held in Worcester, Ben Coyle, Esquire from Bacon and Wilson attended on our behalf. All towns appealing must send correspondence to the MassDEP, 1 copy to the Office of Appeals and Dispute Resolution, the other to the Litigation Manager. One town is filing a suite and we have the option of joining that suit. However, if we do not we will still reap the same benefits as a co-appellant. A decision on the suite was put on hold as it is not needed right away and it will give Craig a chance to collect more information. The Commission agreed to proceed
with the appeal and sign the correspondence prepared by Ben Coyle for signature, which will be mailed Certified tomorrow.
NEW BUSINESS:
Water Test Competition - Champion ~ Craig informed the Commission our water was judged best tasting in Massachusetts at the Mass Rural Water Association (MWRA) Third Annual Water Taste Test Competition held September 10, 2008 in Northfield MA as part of MWRA’s annual Trifecta training event. The sample was drawn from the tap of Beth & Deb’s restaurant. With this victory Monson will compete against the rest of the country for the National Title in April of 2009 in Washington D.C., this event is also sponsored by National Rural Water Association.
NEXT MEETING: The next meeting has been set for Wednesday, October 1, 2008 at 6:30 p.m.
ADJOURN: At 7:00 p.m., a motion was made by Marty and seconded by Doug to adjourn from open session to go into executive session for the purpose of discussing pending negotiations and not to return to open session. Motion passed unanimously.
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Stephen C. Lobik, Clerk
cc: Selectmen
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